Do you have a favourite lens? If so, what is it and why?

[Tronhard]

I have a lot of lenses, stretching back to the early 1990's.  The quality of the images they take vary, as one might expect, somewhat by prices and technological development.  That said, I have a couple of lenses that I love the images from:
Canon EF 28-300L,  a monster lens: and until the RF 24-240, Canon's only super-zoom lens.  It has a wonderful tonal quality to it and it behaves amazingly well on both FF and APS-C bodies.

Canon EOS 400D, EF 28-300L@97mm, f/8, 1/500sec, ISO-800

EF 70-200L f/2.8 (and 4.0) MkII IS USM: both with really nice tonal qualities that are especially effective for portraits - which I rarely do, but since I don't shoot people very often (in the nicest way), I do, on occasion get to photograph an animal.

Canon EOS 5DsR, EF70-200L@182mm, f/8, 1/80sec, ISO-200.

So, what are your favourite optics and why?

[Tronhard]

Hi Wandalynn!
Great to 'hear' from you!  Yep, the EF 100-400 L MkII is one of my favourite DSLR lenses too.   I never afforded the L macro but get along with the f/2.8 EF-S 60 and EF100 macros and they do enough for me.  Love to see some of your shots!

[Tronhard]

Bummer Bill...  I have done a few panoramas, but never with the 70-200!  I shall have to give that a go.  As to the 35mm, I don't have that one, but from your comments I shall keep an eye out for one second-hand.

Thanks for sharing.

[Wandalynn]

Thanks! Here are three of my photos.R5, EF 100-400 L ii, 400mm, f/8, 1/2000, ISO 2500R5, EF 100mm L macro, focus bracket of 5 images, combined in DPP, f/7.1, 1/100, ISO 800R5, RF 100-400 at 400mm, f/9, 1/1000, ISO 800

[Waddizzle]

Okay, after deleting MANY photos, I can post photos again.  This old camera has still got what it takes.  This is where this lens lives.

1D Mark IV, EF 35mm f/2 IS USM.

[AtticusLake]

WOW.  Amazing work!  Specially the butterflies.

[Wandalynn]

Thank you! Your landscape shots are beautiful, and I enjoyed your post! Since I haven't traveled much in the past few years, it's easier for me to find "bug shots" than landscape shots. 

[johnrmoyer]

The lens I use most often by far is EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM often with 1.4x III or 2x III extender. So this might be my favorite. But I also have other favorites.

Zinnia with American Bumble Bee (Bombus pensylvanicus) in Norman, Oklahoma, September 15, 2022Glacier in Chugach National Forest near Whittier, Alaska, August 7, 2019, panorama, EOS 80D, hand held from deck of moving boat, stitched using hugin, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

My lens I have the most emotional attachment to is a 45 year old Minolta MC ROKKOR-X PG 1:1.4 f=50mm from a film camera.

Minolta MC ROKKOR-X PG 1:1.4 f=50mm, F/16, 1/332, ISO 250, processed with GMIC Richardson/Lucy to remove diffraction blur.

Another favorite lens is EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM which I use on an EOS R5 or an EOS 80D. I like it on the R5 even though I have been told it is not appropriate for a full frame sensor. I already own it and full frame wide angle zooms seem expensive to me. I also often use an EF-S 24mm.

Castilleja indivisa (also called Indian Paintbrush) and Achillea millefolium (also called Common Yarrow) blooming in Norman, Oklahoma, May 27, 2022, EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM, focus stack of 8 images, F/9, 18mm, 1/64